Future of the FAA
Thread Starter
Future of the FAA
No carriers for 10 years.
Old carrier(s) scrapped.
RAF keep all their Merlins. Not being handed over to RN.
SeaKing being scrapped.
No Harriers.
No JSF.
The Navy are left with some Merlin's and even less Lynx's.
What does a future FAA pilot do for a living now.
Smart alec's need not apply
Old carrier(s) scrapped.
RAF keep all their Merlins. Not being handed over to RN.
SeaKing being scrapped.
No Harriers.
No JSF.
The Navy are left with some Merlin's and even less Lynx's.
What does a future FAA pilot do for a living now.
Smart alec's need not apply
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The FAA Fixed wing ,is all but history now. Only Rotary, remaining. Had to laugh at Gen "Donoughts " interview with Emily Maitlas on BBC 24 News yesterday....... We will have One and a half Carriers ready by 2020. Embarking 11 JSFs , which is a good idea!!!!..........A 60,000 ton A/C Carrier with 11 fixed wing.... your having a laugh. The chockheads will be playing deck hockey all day long, on the empty flight deck!!!!
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given a new skill set will be needed the Fast jet stream I hope will be offered places in typhoon Sqns and exchanges with USN, USMC & Aeronaval will allow the conventional carrier experience to build up.
The descisions over CHF seam a bit underhand and hopefully will work out in longer term will RAF hand some merlins over when they get new chinooks? but would say this needs to be made more transparent
The descisions over CHF seam a bit underhand and hopefully will work out in longer term will RAF hand some merlins over when they get new chinooks? but would say this needs to be made more transparent
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given a new skill set will be needed the Fast jet stream I hope will be offered places in typhoon Sqns and exchanges with USN, USMC & Aeronaval will allow the conventional carrier experience to build up.
As for Typhoon slots - I would hazard a guess (and it's just that, I'm not on the inside) that the RAF will be busy enough finding slots for its Harrier pilots to give a flying **** for out of work RN jockeys. (To put it nicely
)I think the RN top brass have just zeroed the FAA... not sure everyone has realised it yet.
Dave
I think you are misunderstanding the word 'exchange' - with NO fixed wing capability, the RN will now have NO posts to offer the French or US for exchange
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It just doesn't make financial sense in the current climate to retrain experienced Merlin crews to fly Chinook and Seaking crews to fly Merlin. I can see the Merlins staying with the RAF with a surge in RAF Chinook crews and CHF dissolving over the new couple of years. As the Chinook and Harrier forces have shown, the RAF is more then capable of operating from ships. Can we really justify a bespoke CHF?
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The RAF briefings have been quite explicit. Sea King junglies go on time. RAF Merlin force takes over the responsibility to provide lift for Bootnecks. No room for doubt in that brieifing.
Can we really justify a bespoke CHF?
The FAA small-ships flights are an integral part of the ship's weapon systems and need naval aircrew - but that is not the case with CHF.
Last edited by Trim Stab; 20th Oct 2010 at 19:05.
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Leave attack and recce to the AAC; SH to the RAF and the grey fleet (pinging, bagging and surface attack) to the FAA...
Simples!
That said, it would be a shame to see an end to CHF, but with rationalisation I feel it is on borrowed time. SDSR 2015???
Simples!
That said, it would be a shame to see an end to CHF, but with rationalisation I feel it is on borrowed time. SDSR 2015???
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The writing has been on the wall for the fixed wing FAA for a long time - the Crabs have played the long game since the RN signed up to Joint Force Harrier, and have finally dealt the killer blow. Not that any of the idiots who signed up for that will be brought to book - they most likely got their promotions out of it!
What is most disappointing is that the people who are supposed to lead us, whatever our branch of the armed forces, seem more interested in getting one over on each other than a collective defence of the realm.
What is most disappointing is that the people who are supposed to lead us, whatever our branch of the armed forces, seem more interested in getting one over on each other than a collective defence of the realm.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
If defence of the realm means best option is selling your blokes down the river, and you are brave enough to do it, do you expect your blokes to accept their redundancies and say, but he was a good bloke, he put country before his troops?
In the round, what are the numbers between the GR4 force and the light blue element of the GR9 force? MRA4 doesn't count, as it never has and has always sucked the hind tit.
Protection and preservation of the mostest.
Mind you, haven't things been quiet on the Tiffy front?
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Merlin Mk 3 RN/RAF?
Here is the elephant in the room........ There are now not enough spaces in cockpits for the Jungly/RAF SH community. Why? The promised 22 Chinook buy has not materialised (thanks for the pipe dream Labour Govt!). The Chinook buy of 12 is simply not enough to sustain 2 Sqns worth of Merlin pilots moving across to the green banana. The other elephant is that Puma 2 has been reduced in number (24 - ish). The future RW strategy was written with this assumption(with an RN Jungly 2* at the helm). Now that assumption has been kiboshed, CAS has simply reverted to an obvious standpoint. With 35 fully trained Mk3 RAF Merlin crews, most of whom have served in AFG this year, why should he make his own aircrew redundant just to save the RN Jungly force.....? Especially as the PM trumpeted helicopter lift as a highlight of SDSR.
The sheer amount of money to retrain the Jungly Force (42ish crews) with the RAF essentially footing the instructional and real estate bill at Benson for the next 5 years, (in addition to training it's own to fly the banana) are simply an expense we cannot afford. The geography alone makes it a nightmare for both Services. RN have to travel to and from Benson to undertake an heavily simulator based course and living in hotels due to no accn at Benson. The RAF trying to retrain to Chinook without the airframes or enough simulator support. This in addition to making some redundancies amongst his own, make this a no brainer for CAS, hence the wording in SDSR. Given the same situation in reverse, the RN would not think twice about denying the airframes to the RAF. The bottom line is that, this is not the fault of the RAF - the circumstances have simply changed beyond the control of both Services. Sadly, I did not even see the Jungly community mentioned in the RN section of SDSR. Why? Were they sold down the river by the fishhead community to save the 2 big boats?
The sheer amount of money to retrain the Jungly Force (42ish crews) with the RAF essentially footing the instructional and real estate bill at Benson for the next 5 years, (in addition to training it's own to fly the banana) are simply an expense we cannot afford. The geography alone makes it a nightmare for both Services. RN have to travel to and from Benson to undertake an heavily simulator based course and living in hotels due to no accn at Benson. The RAF trying to retrain to Chinook without the airframes or enough simulator support. This in addition to making some redundancies amongst his own, make this a no brainer for CAS, hence the wording in SDSR. Given the same situation in reverse, the RN would not think twice about denying the airframes to the RAF. The bottom line is that, this is not the fault of the RAF - the circumstances have simply changed beyond the control of both Services. Sadly, I did not even see the Jungly community mentioned in the RN section of SDSR. Why? Were they sold down the river by the fishhead community to save the 2 big boats?
